EDFL 2019: Pascoe Vale no longer reliant on Matthew Watson

Former AFL player Matthew Watson bagged 73 goals for Pascoe Vale in 2018. He is still in fine form this year, but the Panthers have assembled a strong support cast.

Pascoe Vale’s Matthew Watson takes a mark against Aberfeldie. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Pascoe Vale’s efforts to lessen its reliance on spearhead Matt Watson and spread the goalscoring load is paying dividends.

Former AFL-listed player Watson booted 73 majors in his first season at the EDFL Premier Division club, leaving him well clear of teammate Jacob Polizzi (26 goals).

While Watson is still having a major impact this year — he has 31 goals from 10 games — the Panthers have multiple options inside the attacking 50, with Josh Cauchi (17), Daniel Archer (16) and Polizzi (12) all dangerous, while youngster Damien Petrone bagged three in Saturday’s vital victory over Greenvale.

Josh Cauchi has kicked 17 goals this season. Picture: Josie Hayden

“He (Watson) is getting lots of shots on goal,” Pascoe Vale coach Digby Morrell said.

“He kicked 4.4 again (against Greenvale) and he’s had a few bags throughout. He’s still got some work to do, but he’s starting to catch the ball and he leads well at the ball and the guys are kicking it well in his vicinity.

“But there’s no doubt we’ve changed the focus from last year. Now we’ve got five or six different options.

“We continue to try and expand our scoring range, and Watto’s an integral part of that.

“He draws the best defender and draws a lot of heat during the game, but he’s stood up week in, week out for us.”

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The Panthers sit third on the ladder with a 6-1-3 record after hammering the Jets by 43 points, 15.16 (106) to 9.9 (63).

Pascoe Vale trailed by nine points at the first break before piling on eight unanswered goals in an awe-inspiring second-quarter onslaught.

The home side held the upper hand from there, with VFL-listed pair Nick Mellington and Sean Gregory playing key roles in the triumph, along with Watson (four goals), Polizzi (three) and Michael Ross.

Morrell said his new-look team’s delivery into the forward half continued to improve.

“Early on we kicked it to the (opposition) backs’ advantage and it’s about continuing to train that there’s space and there’s opportunities to kick into that space,” he said.

“We think our forward six, one-on-one, is very dangerous, so we’ve really got to give our forwards a greater than 50 per cent chance every time we kick the ball. If we can do that, we’re going to be able to kick a score.

“We’ve had over 30 shots just about every week, so that’s a good starting point to win lots of games of footy.”

The Panthers lost to the Jets in the opening round and also dropped games against pacesetters Keilor and Aberfeldie in the first half of the campaign.

But Morrell said they were taking no notice of the outside noise after claiming a significant scalp.

“It hasn’t bothered us at any stage. People can say we lost to those teams above us … but they’re not devastating losses and we’re not far away,” he said.

“Obviously one of the knocks has been us being able to beat those teams above us, and it was another challenge for us against Greenvale. To win by 43 points was really pleasing.”

Pascoe Vale will next face Essendon Doutta Stars away from home.

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